SPEAKER_01 0:00

Well God, you sent your spirit on that Pentecost day to teach the hearts of your faithful people, and we ask that you would send your spirit again today. As we gather around your word to give us right judgment in all things. And forever to rejoice in your holy comfort through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Fall fresh on us now. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

SPEAKER_04 0:43

You may be seated. The Lord be with you.

SPEAKER_01 0:56

And also with you. Thanks so much for being with us at Dymnet Chapel. For whom does this feel like home? For whom does this feel like enemy territory? Is there anybody here from the warehouse? Okay. I want all the 9th Street people to notice they're in the front. How about the chapel folks? I love it. Way to go. And anybody from 9th Street? There it is. One church, one location today. One big Pentecost gathering on this Memorial Day weekend. It is an absolute gift to be with you all.

SPEAKER_04 1:38

And the gift is just that to be together. So we hope that you'll join us after worship for some treats, some coffee, some baked goods, inside if it's still raining, outside if it's let up a little bit.

SPEAKER_01 1:53

It's not gonna rain. It never rains. I get the privilege of joining Pastor Anna and Lacey in preaching this morning, but this is my guy Lincoln. Lincoln is 10. Can we give Lincoln a little? Lincoln is a member of Pillar. You ready for this? You're gonna have to do some math on this one. Lincoln is a member of Pillar and lives in Turkey. We sent his family, was it about a year ago? A year and a half ago, to Turkey, where they became a part of this really, really small little church, now rapidly growing church in the context of Turkey, which is 99.9% Muslim. Lincoln is 10, he misses us. He and his siblings, they miss their friends, they miss their church. So they're leaving in a couple weeks. Would you do whatever you can do to make sure they feel all the love and support possible as they head back to Turkey? Lincoln's gonna read for us in just a minute from one of my pastoral mentors, a guy named John Stott, not in the like I knew him way, but in like I read a lot of his stuff uh sort of way.

SPEAKER_04 3:06

But before Lincoln reads, we'll hear, after Lincoln reads, we'll also hear from the Old Testament, which, to be honest, if this Old Testament passage were rated like a movie, you probably wouldn't want your kids to see it. So we'll start with Lincoln.

unknown 3:24

Go ahead, Lincoln.

SPEAKER_00 3:26

The astonishing paradox of Christ's teaching in the Christian experience is this. If we lose ourselves in following Christ, we actually find ourselves. True self-denial is self-discovery. To live for ourselves is insanity and ultimately death. To live for God and humankind is wisdom in life. Indeed, we do not begin to find ourselves until we become willing to lose ourselves in the service of Christ and of others.

SPEAKER_01 4:13

That was amazing. That was mostly just for fun. Uh that was incredible. Thank you, Lincoln, so much. We love you and your family. Uh now I want you to open your heart with us uh to a little moment in the Old Testament. Uh if there were seat belts in the pews, now is the time to uh buckle them in.

SPEAKER_05 4:38

Moses turned and went down from the mountain carrying the two tablets of the covenant in his hands, tablets that were written on both sides, written on the front and the back. The tablets were the work of God and the writing was the writing of God engraved upon the tablets. When Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, There is a noise of war in the camp. But he said, It is not the sound made by victors or the sound made of losers. It is the sound of singing that I hear. As soon as he came near the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses' anger burned hot. And he threw the tablets from his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain. He took the calf they had made, burned it with fire, ground it to powder, scattered it on the water, and made the Israelites drink it. When Moses saw the people were out of control, for Aaron had lost control of them, prompting derision among their enemies, then Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, Who is on the Lord's side? Come to me. And all the sons of Levi gathered around him. He said to them, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, put your sword on your side, each of you. Go back and forth from gate to gate throughout the camp. And each of you kill your brother, your friend, and your neighbor. The sons of Levi did as Moses commanded, and about three thousand of the people fell on that day. This is the word of the Lord.

SPEAKER_01 6:51

Thanks be to God. Glad you could make it to Dimna today. If you grew up in the church, that's probably one of those passages where you kind of read with one eye closed. Or maybe that's the reason you left the church. Really? Put your sword by your side and go throughout the camp and kill your brother? And about three thousand died? There's gotta be more to the story, right? Tell me, tell me, there's there's gotta be more to the story, right?

SPEAKER_04 7:33

There's more to the story. That's not the end. So listen to this from Acts. Listen carefully, listen well.

SPEAKER_01 7:46

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like the rush of a violent wind that filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues as a fire appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability. Now at that time in Jerusalem there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living, and at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered because they heard each of them in their own native languages. They amazed and perplexed, they said to one another, How is it that we hear each of us in our own native languages? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt, and the parts of Libya belong to Cyrene. Visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs in our own languages, we hear them speaking of God's deeds of power. Amazed and astonished, they said to one another, What does this mean? But others sneered and said, They're filled with new wine. But Peter, standing with the eleven, addressed them, saying, Fellow Jews and all who live in Jerusalem, let it be known and listen to what I have to say.

SPEAKER_04 9:36

Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o'clock in the morning. No, this is what was spoken about in the prophet Joel.

SPEAKER_05 9:52

In the last days it will be. God declares that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters will prophesy. And your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams, even upon my slaves, both men and women. In these days, I will pour out my spirit upon them, and they will prophesy. And I will show portents in the heaven above, and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and smoky mist, and the sun will turn to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the Lord's great and glorious day. Then everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.

SPEAKER_04 10:55

Fellow Israelites, listen to what I have to say. Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God through deeds of power and wonder and signs that God himself did among you, as you yourselves know, this man was handed over to you by the definite plan and foreknowledge of God. This man you crucified and killed by the hands of those who are outside the law. But God raised him up, having released him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for him to be held in its power.

SPEAKER_05 11:46

For David says concerning him, I see the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand, so that I will not be shaken. Therefore, my heart is glad, my tongue rejoices. Moreover, my flesh will live in hope. You have made known to me the ways of life. You will make me full of gladness with your presence.

SPEAKER_04 12:20

Fellow Jews, I can say to you confidently that our ancestor David died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Since he was a prophet, he knew that God had sworn an oath to him that he would put one of his descendants on the throne. Foreseeing this, speaking of the resurrection of the Messiah, he said, He was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh experience corruption. This Jesus, God, raised up. And of this we are all witnesses. Being exalted therefore at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you now see and hear.

SPEAKER_05 13:20

For our ancestor David did not ascend to the heavens, but he said concerning him, My Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.

SPEAKER_04 13:34

Therefore, let the entire house of Israel know with certainty that God has made him both Lord and Messiah, this Jesus whom you crucified.

SPEAKER_01 13:53

When they heard this, they were cut to the heart. And they said to Peter and the other apostles, Brothers, what should we do? And Peter said, Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, so that your sins may be forgiven and you'll receive the gift of the Holy Spirit for the promises for you and for your children, for those who are far off, everyone whom the Lord God calls to himself. And he continued to exhort them with many other arguments, saying, Save yourselves from this corrupt generation. And those who received the message were baptized. And on that day, about 3,000 were added to the number. And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

SPEAKER_04 14:46

This is also the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

SPEAKER_01 14:51

It's Acts chapter 2. It's the story of Pentecost. The Exodus 32 story gives way to the Acts 2 movement. The 3,000 who die in Exodus now give way to the 3,000 raised to new life in Acts chapter 2. The agony of Exodus gives way to the celebration of Acts. Everything changes now. Everything's turned upside down now. There's a bunch of things that we could spend our time meandering about in Acts chapter 2. We're just going to offer a couple of things. Is that okay? Just a couple of things? Do you have Memorial Day plans?

SPEAKER_04 15:38

It's too rainy.

SPEAKER_01 15:39

It's too rainy. Yeah, you gotta stay here anyway. It's too wet outside. So just sit tight. We'll be done in a couple hours.

SPEAKER_04 15:45

I take that as permission.

SPEAKER_01 15:47

Just go. Just run. Just do it.

SPEAKER_04 15:50

What did you notice? First, there were some sounds. 3,000 splashes of baptism is where it ends. Started out with a violent, rushing wind. Every language spoken that you could imagine. Maybe some of the sounds gripped your heart. Peter's passion as he's preaching. There were some sights too. People from all over gathered together, breaking bread together. And tongues of fire rested on each. I wonder what that looked like. What did you see? Where were the spirit and the word speaking to you today? This is Pentecost. It's the birthday of the church, the day when God generously and quite personally pours out his spirit to all who are gathered. And this spirit he pours out is the Holy Spirit, the one who Jesus promised would come. Jesus described the Holy Spirit as friend, advocate. He even said, It will be better for you than if I were to stay, because the spirit is that good. This Holy Spirit is the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, and with the Father and the Son is worshiped together and glorified together. That's the Holy Spirit. And as the Holy Spirit moves and breathes in that room in Jerusalem and here now, the word speaks. The word and the spirit. We find them here together. The word takes hold of all those who are gathered. That day in Acts and this day now. As far as preachers go, Peter might be one of my role models. Peter is gripped by the word of God. And he has God's word so deeply inside of him that he's quoting the prophet Joel in Psalm 16 and Psalm 110. It's like Peter's sermon is within this sermon, and within Peter's sermon is Joel's sermon and David's sermons. And these words of God are so deeply hidden in Peter's heart that he's announcing them with confidence from the heart. He's just absolutely riffing. And he seems to think the word of God is worth mentioning, worth repeating in light of the Spirit's actions. The word and the Spirit, they're always together. It's this dance we see in Acts 2. Peter's message that day and our message today is simply that the word of God is powerful, and because God has raised Jesus from the dead, Jesus now pours out his spirit on each one of us. Peter's announcing with a creative and true reading of the scriptures that he deeply knows, in a spirit-inspired announcement, that Jesus of Nazareth is the center, the climax, the hero of the whole story that he had known his whole life. He's saying, fellow Israelites, fellow Jews, this is our story. And Jesus is the hero of it all. And because Jesus is alive, he's poured out his spirit here to each one of you. This is proof that the story was about Jesus the whole time. That's Peter's message, and that's our announcement for you today, too. The spirit and the word working together to verify, to testify that Jesus is alive. The grave couldn't hold him. It was impossible for him to be held in its power. And God has released him from the agony of death. Jesus is alive. And because Jesus is alive, he's poured out his spirit here. That's Peter's message, and that's our message. And it's no accident that God's spirit and God's word create such an event on a day like Pentecost. Pentecost, also called Shavuot, is the Jewish festival celebrating the giving of the law, the Torah, on Mount Sinai. Remember Moses with the Ten Commandments and the tablets. When you hear law, I don't want you to hear rules. I want you to hear God's heart to be in relationship with his people. He's always been this kind of God. And he proved himself to be that kind of God by speaking, by pursuing in relationship, by saying, I want to be with you. Here's what life in love for neighbor and love for God looks like. That's what the Pentecost celebration was celebrating. That's why there were Jews from all over the region gathered together in Jerusalem. And the Holy Spirit came that day because God insisted to remind everyone that He's still a God who speaks. That He's not That he's the kind of God who speaks through the Torah, through the law, the kind of God who speaks through fire and through wind, the kind of God who speaks through incarnation, who speaks through his own death for us, through his resurrection for us, the kind of God who speaks through the worship of his people and through his living word and through his body and blood given for us. He's a God who speaks. A God who continues to speak through this living word. So I'm here to remind you that even when it seems like God isn't speaking, God has most ultimately and most clearly spoken to you in the person and work of Jesus Christ. God has spoken to you in his breathing the world into existence. God has spoken to you in pursuing relationship. God has spoken to you in dwelling with us as a tiny baby. He's spoken to you in living a life of love as a human. He's spoken to you on the cross, dying for you. God has spoken to you in his resurrection. God has spoken to you in raising Jesus from the dead. God has spoken to you in pouring out his spirit to you. God has spoken to you in giving you the sustaining power to make it to this day. God has most clearly spoken to you in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Out of love. And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Saved from the silence of God. No, he speaks. Saved from the despair of your own mind. No, he meets you there. Saved from the ache toward the promise. That the ache doesn't have the final word and won't have the final word because Jesus is alive. God raised Jesus from the dead, releasing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to have its grip on him. And the same is true for you as you are in Christ. You've been released from the agony of death, and it will be impossible for you to be held in its grip. Because the Spirit lives in you, and the resurrection of Jesus is your future. Amen.

SPEAKER_01 25:03

I should say. Amen. Can I just go on a little bit farther? I mean, that that is that amazing. What's the So Peter? Peter stands up to preach this amazing sermon. Fifty-three days earlier, he's the one who denies Christ. And now he stands up and preaches in such a way that 3,000 are converted. What happened? You know, I mean, Jesus meets him on the shores of Galilee and reinstates him. That happens. But it's not like Peter has some sort of self-awareness now. I'm not as bad as I thought I was. I can muster up the courage and the strength to do this thing I should have done in the first place. What happened was the spirit happened. The spirit was sent. The spirit interiorized his life. The spirit took over him then, and you now is the point. Tomorrow doesn't get to be the same. Your job isn't the same. Your family's not the same. Everything gets overturned and undone because of God's grace through Jesus Christ and the Spirit's presence in our lives now. You know, I've always wanted people to clap for me. It never happens. But here's the here's where I want to go. That was just for fun. Here's where I want to go. It all precipitates in this singular moment. When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place, and suddenly there came from heaven a sound. The action of God's Spirit, the chaos of that New Testament scene is initiated by a God who speaks and a people who listen. There was a sound. I'm not going to offer you some sort of riddle if there was no one there would they have heard the sound. I'm going to concede the sound and wonder, will you listen? Are you listening? Can you hear it in a world of noise? And I could rehearse the headlines if you'd like, but that'd only be more noise. Or as Leslie Nubigan talks, in a cacophony of sound. Can you hear it? Will you listen? There came from heaven a sound. Like Luke, the author of Acts, using a simile. Like the sound of a violent wind. I mean, think about all of the ways he could have described the wind, the sound. He chooses violence. Why not like the sound of a train rumbling down the tracks? Context notwithstanding. Or a legion of horses galloping through the wilderness. It was like the sound of the mighty waters of the Negev running through their valleys. Why did he say violence? Like the sound of a violent wind. I can't help but wonder if Luke is drawing our attention back to Exodus. When Joshua hears the sound and he says to Moses, there's the sound of war in the camp. A violent wind. I Googled, what does a violent wind sound like? This is what I got. Is that what it sounded like? Is that the violent wind? I'm not exactly sure it really matters. Like what did it actually sound like so much as it was violent, echoing back to Exodus 32, announcing the war of Exodus 32 has given way to the shalom of Acts. The death of Exodus 32 gives way to the life of the Spirit. Everything gets undone. Everything gets overturned. Everything is different now. Can you hear it? Will you hear it? Death to life, despair to hope, isolation to connection. It's the movement of the Spirit. It's the action of Christ's Spirit in our lives. Will you hear it? And the hearing doesn't determine the speaking, the sounding, but rather our participation. In other words, will you participate? Will you get in on the mission? God's mission in the world to reconcile all things to himself until finally the lion and the lamb lie down together and there's peace on earth. Until finally swords become plowshares, spears, pruning hooks, and we add axe handles become baptismal fonts. Until finally all things are made new. Will you get in on it? This is Pentecost, y'all. This is the church's birthday. This is why we live. This is why we exist. This is what we're about. Give yourselves away. What did Lincoln say? To look for yourself? Whoa, whoa, whoa, is it asinine or something like that? Insanity, give up of yourself and find your true self rooted in Jesus Christ for God's mission in the world. Nothing gets to be the same anymore. This past week, my daughter Tabitha graduated from high school. Did I mention that? There's a picture. I think there's a that's my girl. That's my girl. Uh-oh, I'm starting to cry. It was over at DeVos Fieldhouse, you know, like hundreds of chairs lined up on the on the gym floor for the graduates to sit, and the oval around the gym is covered in people, uh family and friends, and co-workers and classmates. And it's really fun when the when the graduate is announced, you know, some families are like. And then there's other families, it's like the Kentucky Derby is neck and neck down to the finish line, and they're hooting and they're hollering, and they're, and it's all just so great. A guy named Dan Telgenhoff gave the commencement address. Dan, uh he's a teacher, coach, softball, basketball. He told a bit of his own story. I don't know if you know Dan, he's a Holland guy. Uh he told a bit of his own story. Five years ago, I think I have these details right. Uh he fell in his backyard and injured his spinal cord. Uh, went in for surgery to repair the spinal cord, and woke up from surgery unable to move his hands and his feet. He couldn't move his feet. He couldn't move. He couldn't move. So to watch him walk down the center aisle of these graduates, graduating seniors up onto the platform was, I mean, it was a miracle. Uh he he he went from unable to move to an electric uh elect uh you know what I'm saying? Electric wheelchair uh into a walker, and then now he's got these two canes strapped to his uh forearm to help him walk. It was the slowest walk from his seat to that podium I've ever seen. And and I could have sat there watching it forever. He he the the folder was open for all of the speeches, and he very slowly took the page and turned it to his speech. A simple act left me breathless. And then he and then he gave this commencement address. It was really good. He asked a single question. Uh, what do you value? He said that was the question I was asking as I laid in the hospital for days. That was the question I asked during rehab. That's the question I was asking when I got from the electric chair, wheelchair to the walker, to the what do I value? And then, like a good speaker does, he kind of turned the question in on itself. He turned the rhetorical question in on itself and said, I'm here because I value you. I value you graduates. The graduate who for whom English is a second language and school is a second job. I value you. Student who's got all the possibility and opportunity in the world, and yet somehow it all feels like demand and pressure, and it becomes anxiety and depression. He said, I value you, graduating senior, trying to make your way through the treacherous realities of social media where TikTok that and Snapchat this somehow determine how you are. I value you, young one, trying to climb that long, lonely mountain of shame and guilt and sadness and despair. He said, I value, I'm here because I value you. And this was Tuesday night, and I had Pentecost Sunday on my mind, and I couldn't help but think, is this is this what God is saying to us at Pentecost? I value you. My son Jesus Christ is gonna die to forgive and defeat death and rise up in resurrection and send the Spirit, not just to the masses, they heard the sound of war in the camp, but to each person so that everyone could hear God's deeds of power in their own native language. It's not just the sound rumbling in the camp, it's the specific, accessible, appropriated, personally announcement of who God is and what God does for you. Because he values you. And he wants us in on it. That's how much he values us. Not just, look what I did for you, but rather I want you in on this with me redemption, reconciliation, the salvation of the world. Amen. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.